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Richard Gordon
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Richard Gordon |
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Born on: |
5 Oct 1929 |
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Join NASA in: |
17 Oct 1963 |
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Current status: |
Retired 1 Jan 1972 |
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Spaceflight |
Position |
Date |
|
Gemini 11 |
Pilot |
12.09. - 15.09.1966 |
|
Apollo 12 |
CMP |
14.11. - 24.11.1969 |
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Spaceflight experience: |
Richard Gordon was one of the
third group of astronauts named by NASA in October 1963.
He served as backup pilot for the Gemini 8 flight.
On September 12, 1966, he served as pilot for the 3-day
Gemini XI mission--on which rendezvous with an Agena was
achieved in less than one orbit. He executed docking
maneuvers with the previously launched Agena and performed
two periods of extravehicular activity which included
attaching a tether to the Agena and retrieving a nuclear
emulsion experiment package. Other highlights accomplished
by Gordon and command pilot Charles Conrad on this flight
included the successful completion of the first tethered
station-keeping exercise, establishment of a new altitude
record of 850 miles, and completion of the first fully
automatic controlled reentry. The flight was concluded on
September 15, 1966, with the spacecraft landing in the
Atlantic--2 1/2 miles from the prime recovery ship USS
GUAM.
Gordon was subsequently assigned as backup command pilot
for Apollo 9.
He occupied the command module pilot seat on Apollo 12,
November 14-24, 1969. Other crewmen on man's second lunar
landing mission were Charles Conrad, spacecraft commander,
and Alan L. Bean, lunar module pilot. Throughout the
31-hour lunar surface stay by Conrad and Bean, Gordon
remained in lunar orbit aboard the command module, "Yankee
Clipper," obtaining desired mapping photographs of
tentative landing sites for future missions. He also
performed the final re-docking maneuvers following the
successful lunar orbit rendezvous which was initiated by
Conrad and Bean from within "Intrepid" after their ascent
from the moon's surface.
All of the mission's objectives were accomplished and
Apollo 12 achievements include: The first precision lunar
landing with "Intrepid's" touchdown in the moon's Ocean of
Storms; the first lunar traverse by Conrad and Bean as
they deployed the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiment Package
(ALSEP), installed a nuclear power generator station to
provide the power source for these long-term scientific
experiments, gathered samples of the lunar surface for
return to earth, and completed a close up inspection of
the Surveyor III spacecraft.
The Apollo 12 mission lasted 244 hours and 36 minutes and
was concluded with a Pacific spashdown and subsequent
recovery operations by the USS HORNET.
Captain Gordon has completed two space flights, logging a
total of 315 hours and 53 minutes in space--2 hours and 44
minutes of which were spent in EVA.
He served as backup spacecraft commander for Apollo 15.
Captain Gordon retired from NASA and the USN in January
1972.
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